Look around and you’ll see a world on fire – quite literally. From bombs falling on Gaza to floods swallowing cities, from oil rigs polluting the seas to families choosing between heating and eating, it’s hard not to feel like everything is connected.
Because it is.
You can’t talk about climate justice without talking about war. You can’t talk about war without talking about capitalism. And you can’t talk about any of it without putting people – ordinary working-class people – at the heart of the fightback.
This isn’t just a bunch of separate issues. This is one struggle, fought on many fronts.
The War Machine is a Climate Killer
Let’s start with the obvious. War is an environmental catastrophe.
The world’s militaries are some of the biggest polluters on Earth. Fighter jets, tanks, naval fleets – they burn through fossil fuels like there’s no tomorrow. And if the war doesn’t kill you, the poisoned water, scorched land, or demolished infrastructure might.
In Gaza, entire neighbourhoods have been flattened. Water systems destroyed. Hospitals bombed. Whole generations traumatised. And yet governments like ours continue to sell weapons to the very forces doing the bombing, while pretending to care about peace or climate at global summits.
War isn’t just brutal – it’s profitable. And it’s always the poor who pay the highest price.
Climate Justice Needs Class Politics
On the other side of the coin, you’ve got the Green New Deal – a vision for a fairer, greener future. It sounds good. Jobs. Homes. Clean air. A livable planet. But let’s be real: none of that will happen if we don’t confront the root cause of the crisis – capitalism.
The same people bombing Gaza are lobbying against green policies. The same governments slashing benefits are signing fossil fuel deals. The same billionaires avoiding tax are investing in private jets and bunkers.
You can’t build a sustainable world on stolen land. You can’t save the planet by letting the people who wrecked it stay in charge. And you definitely can’t do it by pretending war, colonialism and inequality are just side issues.
A Green New Deal worth fighting for must include:
- An end to arms deals and imperialist wars
- Reparations for colonised nations and climate-ravaged communities
- Public ownership of energy, water, and housing
- A real redistribution of wealth and power
Otherwise it’s just greenwashing with better PR.
Solidarity is Our Weapon
Here’s the good news: people are waking up.
Young people marching for the climate are standing with Palestine. Nurses on strike are linking arms with railway workers. Protesters blocking roads for climate action are chanting for ceasefires and refugee rights.
We’re starting to understand that our struggles are not isolated. They’re connected.
And when we see that, when we act like that – we’re powerful.
From the River to the Rooftop Solar Panel
The fight for a liveable planet and the fight against war and exploitation are the same fight.
It’s about who controls the future.
It’s about whose lives are valued.
And it’s about what kind of world we want to live in – and who gets to shape it.
So whether you’re holding a placard, joining a strike, blocking a road, or just speaking the truth when it’s hard to hear – you’re part of something bigger.
From Gaza to your gas bill, from Westminster to Wall Street – this is one struggle.
And we’re just getting started.